The spectacular breakup between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump threatens to leave Tesla with few political friends.
Musk has spent the last few months alienating the electric automaker’s base of liberal car-buyers by moonlighting as Trump’s government-slasher-in-chief. Now, the billionaire’s fixation on the GOP megabill has opened a dangerous rift with the president, who threatened Thursday to end all subsidies to Musk’s companies.
Tesla’s stock had its largest one-day drop in history Thursday as Musk and Trump sniped at each other from their respective social media platforms. The share price fell more than 14 percent, lopping off more than $150 billion from Tesla’s market value — and, according to Bloomberg, tanking Musk’s personal net worth by $34 billion.
The core of the argument between the two men — whether the Republican spending package is a “big, beautiful bill” or a “MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK” — is a side concern for those that prioritize Tesla.
